It was just another day at the beach at Trail 6 in San Onofre State Beach yesterday. The numerous “No Nudity” signs posted nearby served more as directions than deterrents.

In one of California's last bastions for nude sunbathing, a couple dozen people wearing nothing but an occasional hat splashed in the water, sat on beach chairs, tanned on towels or stretched out on sand.

One played Soduku. Another read a newspaper. Some chatted on cell phones or with one another. A few slept. Individual beachgoers and couples kept comfortably to themselves, minding no one's business but their own.

Their bare days may be numbered, but they're enjoying them just the same.

A state appellate court has ruled that the California Department of Parks and Recreation may enforce a ban on nude sunbathing at any state beach, allowing park rangers to start fining the naturists any time they want.

The ruling made in late June found that an internal 1979 state parks policy, which said a nude sunbathing ban would be enforced only upon receipt of a complaint, could be set aside because it was never properly implemented.

The state had rescinded that policy in May 2008 following rising complaints of lewd behavior on the beach and claims that it made for “a sexually charged, harassing or hostile work environment” for some state personnel in the area. That led to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the people who have been sunbathing in the nude on the beach for decades.

The lawsuit asked for a public hearing on the policy change, and in August 2008 a Superior Court judge barred the state from enforcing the nudity ban and said it couldn't alter its long-held practice so abruptly.

The state appealed the court's ruling.

Bare beachgoers now say they will appeal last month's setback to the state Supreme Court, but they already are being warned that they are breaking the law. Park officials say they will begin issuing citations after Labor Day.

Attorney Allen Baylis, one of the people who brought the lawsuit against the state, said the public deserves to have the rules clarified.

He also said a potential fine could end up costing someone $400 or $500.

State parks spokesman Roy Stearns didn't know what a fine might be, but he said he is optimistic no one will ever have to pay it.

“Hopefully, people will understand and comply,” Stearns said. “We don't want to hassle people if we don't have to. Our thought is there is a law that says no nudity, and that applies to public land where we feel there should be some common rules of conduct that all of us subscribe to so we can all get along.”